Esoteric E-03 Phono Stage

I have had this phono amp for months. It replaced the Lamm, a tube unit. I have detected absolutely no difference between the two as to how audible record defects are. (My cartridge is a Koetsu and arm and turntable are SME.)

I listened to this phono preamp a couple of years ago and immediately found it to be characteristic of Esoteric's house sound -- very cleaning, neutral sounding with gobs of details and frequency extension. It does all the analytical qualities right without sounding sterile or emotionless.

Another similar sounding phono preamp but with more warmth and possibly slightly more bloom (not that the E-03 is lacking in this department) is the Pass XP series phono preamps.

Resurrecting this thread. I would also be interested if anyone has compared this to a Zesto Andros.

Resurrecting again: has anyone compared the E-03 (or the newer E-02) with a Pass Labs XP-17?